Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Feb 22, 2020 SAT
It is 4C and sunny in Ottawa Ontario, *you might roll your eyes*, its still freaking cold, but hey, it was -20C on February 18th and took the kids out for family day. So today is victorious weather wise. I never been so obsessed with weather in the Philippines, it always warm and we never have conversation about it. Everywhere I go here in Canada, we talk about the weather. It a common topic where people just say " nice weather eh?" or " freaking cold today"!
In my 20 years here in Canada, I am as Canadian as you can get, and think like a Canadian. Half of my life is spent here, and today at 4C and sunny, I feel that is pretty warm weather for winter. Well, despite the fact that my front yard has a pile of snow, about 4 feet high.
I woke up at 10 am today, because I work nights. Its saturday, and you think taking it easy might be on the plan. But it seems there is never enough time of the day when you are a mom of 3. I feel that my neck is hurting on the left side, probably slept the wrong way.
I headed to Movati Gym to sit in the sauna, I figure the sauna has a warmth that can ease my pain. 15 minutes of heat, then I went to shower. Well, it's not helping out, but a clean shower may help my mind. The nice day means people were at the gym so parking lot is full.
I headed to grocery, spent $45 on basic produce at Fresh Co, and headed home.
At 12:35, I reached home.
My kids - Kieren 9 & Karlina 11 are both on the computer and tablet. I unloaded the grocery and ask the two of them if they want to cook pancake. Karlina wanted to be a chef someday and Kieren wanted to eat, so giving them the chance to cook while I am home sounds like a plan. My kids commented that I am bad at making pancake, I rush my cooking and the mix are usually with the dry mix and not blended properly. So, I fail the pancake test.
Kieren and Karlina wanted to do better, so I poured the mix, add water and Kieren and Karlina have the electric mix out. I added mashed banana, powdered cinnamon, and liquid vanilla flavor. The two of them take turns mixing the batter, and it seems they were bonding over a chore that mommy fail.
Karlina finished the PAN program, which teaches kids basic cooking skills. She is the fire who turn on the stove, get the pan, pour little oil to get the pancake cooking process. They poured the first batter and both of them went back to the living room to play Roblox, Minecraft. The smoke alarm sounded, they recognize that you need to be in the kitchen to cook. It actually takes time to cook a pancake, so Karlina logs off from her game, and so as Kieren. The two of them went to the kitchen and went cooking pancakes. I have to keep checking the kitchen because the batter is poured all over.
Now, the dreaded - who will wash the mixing bowl and the spatula/pancake turner. I have to google what its called - the pancake turner:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00GWVMMNO/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNjg2V1g5S1AxNU9VJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTI4MzgwMzU0OUpNNFhEOVVSVCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzIyMTAyMVJKR0s0UkZUOEhMUyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
Well, Kieren said it was his turn, as her sister was the lead for cooking. He cleaned and wash dishes by hand, I don't have a dishwasher, I live in a "victory home", the house built after the war. So, yeah - there is no room for dishwasher or they never really thought of that, kids did dishes during this era I think. Unless, I want to put the dishwasher in my living room which is crowded as it is - with piano and couch, so I have to forgo the dishwasher. The couch has to stay and so as the piano, so we eat over the couch or the piano.
I have to say that I aced my motherhood today - I taught my son Kieren to wash the sink after doing dishes and drying it. At 9 years old, he felt accomplish doing that.
Pancake cooked, the house is still standing, the sink is cleaned and dried, this is the epic definition of modern-day single mom family. I think this day is a miracle.
- Gym - I showered there. ok, success then.
- Bills - I paid Hydro Ottawa $366.64 and Enbridge Gas $158.02. I dislike online banking recently due to some fraud, but I am glad I was able to pay my bills using the bank machine. Hydro Ottawa provides us electricity. It is one of the standard utility that you pay monthly. "Hydro Ottawa provides electricity supply to its customers, by taking electricity from the provincial grid and distributing it to homes and businesses. " https://hydroottawa.com/ . Meanwhile, Enbridge Gas is also a standard utility to heat our house and water. "Most of the natural gas consumed in homes is used for space heating and water heating. It is also used in stoves, ovens, clothes dryers, lighting fixtures, and other appliances. " This one was a bill that used to confuse me because I thought everything runs via electricity, but our homes in Ottawa are heated by natural gas. So, I guess that is how we heat our house, so we do not freeze in winter.
- Grocery - fruits, and veggies to survive for the week.
- Motherhood - kind of, failed at the task of cooking pancake, kids took over
- The kitchen sink was cleaned - victory.
Well, it's about 3pm now, I saw the sun shining. It is a good idea to clean and paint my car's tire rims. It is so rusted, I cleaned it last year but now needed a second coat. So, winter jacket on, and work on my car.
